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UNITED STATES | Kauai, Hawaii Travel Guide
Friday, April 19, 2024
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Kauai's West Side
Kauai's West Side
The West Side (or west shore) of the island is largely wild, remote, and dry. Its principal community is Hanapepe, but it also includes the smaller towns of Waimea and Kekaha, and the supremely picturesque Waimea Canyon.
Hanapepe
Hanapepe is “Kauai’s Biggest Little Town” and the West Side’s largest and most important community. It is situated roughly 16 miles west of Lihue (or 4 miles west of Kalaheo), in the heart of an agriculturally rich region that supplies the island with much of its produce. It is also notable as the Bougainvillea Capital of Hawaii, abundant in the colorful flowers, with hills covered with bougainvilleas rolling back from the highway on the approaches to Hanapepe. The town itself lies at the head of Hanapepe Bay, and is filled with shops, restaurants and art galleries. It is also recognizable from its main street, Hanapepe Road, which provided the setting for the television mini-series, The Thorn Birds.
Waimea
Waimea, the next major town on the West Side, lies a little over 6 miles west of Hanapepe. It is notable as the site of British explorer Captain James Cook’s first landing in Hawaii on January 20, 1778. It is also significant as the site of the earliest missionary activity in Hawaii, with at least two missionary-era churches still there: Waimea Foreign Church and the Waimea Hawaiian Church. Another place of interest nearby is the Russian Fort Elizabeth State Park where you can still see the remnants of a Russian fort dating from 1817.
Kekaha
Kekaha is situated 3 miles west of Waimea. It is a small sugar plantation town where sugar is still the principal industry. The main points of interest here are the Kekaha Sugar Mill and Kekaha Beach, a 12-mile-long, pristine, secluded, white-sand beach.
Waimea Canyon
Waimea Canyon is yet another place of supreme interest on the West Side of the island, fanning out largely to the northeast of Kekaha. The canyon is a 2,850-foot-deep, 10 miles long and 2 miles wide, carved, over time, by rivers, streams and the weather. Famous as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” it is really quite spectacular with its maze of gullies and spires, bathed in rich hues of red, brown and green, continually changing with the light. There are also a few vista points here, offering good views of the canyon.
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